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More Information About The Windows 7 Os Product Life Cycle

With Microsoft winding down Windows XP support after so many years, many Windows 7 users are concerned about the Microsoft support period for their operating system. Microsoft’s decision to release the Windows 8 update as a separate OS merely increased this confusion.

Some reports online suggested that by releasing the Windows 8 update as a separate OS, Microsoft is trying put as much distance as it can between Windows 7 and the latest Windows operating system in use. This way, they could justify their decision to discontinue the Microsoft support for Windows 7 later on.

About the Windows 7 OS product lifecycle

 Windows 7 users need not worry about support for the OS expiring any time soon. Microsoft has a clear policy when it comes to product support period and product life cycle. This information is available online at their tech support website.

Irrespective of how many new versions were released after a particular OS, it would continue to receive tech support for the period specified in the product life cycle chart on the Microsoft tech support webpage. It is Microsoft’s policy to provide mainstream support for an OS version for at least five years from its release date, and then optionally extended support for another five.

Mainstream support refers to all aspects of the operating system, and includes improving its performance, security features and even its user interface. Extended support merely covers the security requirements of the operating system, making sure that the outdated operating system does not become a target for hacking and malware attacks.

The expiry dates for each of these support periods for all operating systems currently enjoying Microsoft support are mentioned in this product life cycle chart. According to this chart, the mainstream support for Windows 7 would expire by January 12, 2015, and extended support by January 14, 2020. As you can Windows 7 would continue to receive Microsoft tech support services for many more irrespective of how many new OS versions were released after Windows 7.

So, Windows 7 OS is still a good option for anyone looking to use a Windows OS, but does not want to upgrade to Windows 8. You may continue to use Windows 7 for a few more years, and then upgrade to the latest Windows OS version available at the time.
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